INAUGURAL MEETING 9 



up Huntington Avenue, and Massachusetts Avenue is fast becoming 

 an important cross-town thoroughfare. Although the Society 

 pays no city tax, our property is assessed and our land alone last 

 year was assessed for $450,000.00. 



The Committee and your Trustees unanimously feel that the 

 wise course to pursue is to expend no further large sum on this 

 building, but to wait until we can sell our present property without 

 loss, and then move to some location where we can build anew. We 

 have so informed Mr. Foster, who also considered the matter 

 independently and are glad to find that he concurs in this decision. 

 It is possible that some changes can be made in the walls of the 

 large Hall which would be helpful in the artistic arrangement of 

 our Shows. 



The outdoor meetings conducted by Professor Jack at the 

 Arnold Arboretum for the benefit of our members and their friends 

 have proved to be quite popular. It certainly is a practical and 

 attractive way of bringing to notice the many new varieties of 

 flowering shrubs and trees at the Arboretum, and this work will 

 be continued and extended from year to year if our members show 

 by their attendance that it is appreciated. 



Possibly it may become desirable to establish classes for instruc- 

 tion in the various branches of gardening, such as preparation of 

 the soil, planting, propagating of plants by cuttings, pruning of 

 shrubs and trees, demonstrations in the orchard of best methods 

 for the care of fruit trees, and field meetings at noteworthy and 

 successful commercial nurseries. 



It is work of this kind along new lines from year to year that 

 will keep alive the interest in our Society. We must not direct 

 our efforts too much along beaten tracks, and any suggestion from 

 members as to work to be undertaken will always be cordially 

 considered by the Trustees. 



The success of this Society in the future depends primarily, you 

 may say, upon adhering to good business principles in the applica- 

 tion of our funds, and the first business principle to apply is that 

 we should live within our income. Our land, building, and contents 

 are carried on our books at about $575,000.00; we certainly can be 

 proud of our Library which is one of the very best of its kind in 

 the world. It has at present about 25,000 volumes. In addition 



